LRH Discussion Thread

ShrtRnd

ShrtRnd

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Opening up this at RMAN’s prodding (kudos sir) to discuss setups, optics, gear, practises etc but not Calibers, ranges, ethics and the other intangibles associated.

What do you consider a LRH rig? A HB in a Stock, Chassis build or UL/LW Mountain type setup? Post your gear/setups and how you have enjoyed it or maybe go a different route for your needs?

I’ll lead off..

The only thing I currently have that could pass off even remotely as a LRH is a 700P in a HS Stock with an inbound Vortex HST 4-16x44. A bit weighty at 10+ lbs, but given that some Chassis builds or standard offerings of “Long Range Rifles” by a most makers that fall into typical #9.5lb range sans optics category I’m about on par.

I’d like to add in a #3 profile barrel in the 24-26” range for the added velo. Narrowed it down to either a Fierce/Antler or Browning LR McMillan but we’ll see if it comes to fruition.
 
All my hunting rigs are LRH guns. Most of them are Kimber Montana’s/Ascents, but there are a few m700’s as well. 700’s are bobbed at 21-22” with trigger tech’s. 8.75 lbs give or take an ounce or two, with FFP reticle/turret Bushnell 4.5-18 LRHS on them.

The kimbers are all a hair under 7lbs, 3-12 LRHS on them with 22” pipes for the most part.
 
I define it as anything requires elevation correction solutions and lands inside 3 other variables that intersect to where 98% of all beyond Mpbr kills land.

1. 1/2 to 3/4 second time of flight.
2. Field accuracy on game.
3. ~20” of wind.

Expanding on those three;

1. It’s an animal thing combined with the bullets really fall on their face after this along with more time for animals to move. Exponential increase for errors out of kill zone and exponential increase in precision required. 1/2 second will coincide with about 450 and 3/4 second 600 yards give or take.
2. Even guys with 1/4 moa guns can’t use much more than about 1.5 moa in field conditions. Math out the kill zone sizes most like to land inside. (1.5 x 6 is 9” @ 600 yards)
3. Wind, most can only read it so well and once you get past ~20” hold it’s a crap shoot trying to still land in that 9” pie plate. So this could be 30 kmh at 400 or 10 kmh at 600 to give perspective.

In the fine words of a different forum guru who teaches it, competes, culls etc. Moderate amount of consistent killers to 450, very few to 600.

And as evidenced by actual kills the above is all true and can be considered law.

Many can feel this is as far as they will shoot on game even if the compete or target further but may not be able to put into words why. I got you though. ;)

So that’s yer long range hunting definition. Anything beyond that you could call ELRH, the ~1% and or the amount of work, time, and gear required to be a consistent killer beyond 600 is very much past point of diminishing returns.

This then cracks the door wide open on long range hunting rigs. There’s a bunch of ways to fack around and find out. But hunting wants you to boil your gear and system down to KISS principle as possible. There isn’t really that much data you need to consider to get from mpbr to 600 and most sporting rifles can beat 1.5 moa. The world is currently on the PRS hype train so lots of marketing and latest trend that is the way to fly for lrh etc. So sky is limit in how much or how little on the gear end you want to go. Standard sporter with a sub 1 lb scope and simple dial or sfp reticle will do the trick. The further you go from this the more you move into the fack around and find out territory. The wise will have target rigs and then hunting rigs. If can only have one then hunting. The unwise will try to take all that target gear to field and chances of meeting Murphy personally just go up and up.
 
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Open country, I hunt with a Leica rangefinder in my chest pocket and a bipod wearing 9-10# model 700, 2# trigger with a 4.5-14 CDS in my hands. Range from my knees, twist and go prone. Good for 500 yards which is longe range enough for me. I have myself trained to shoot prone off a bipod as much as possible. Minimizes your presence and gives you a solid rest. Practice teaches you where to get down so that you aren’t staring at the side of a hill or a bunch of grass. Like anything getting into a repeatable routine before you pull the trigger makes it a lot easier.
 
Range finder, 4.5-14 or 6.5-20 scope (might try combining these two in the future), and the flattest shooting cartridges I own. Still very, very leery about pushing past 400. Wind is a real crapshoot at long ranges, I shoot out to 700 fairly regularly at the range, and a windy/gusty day throws most calculations out the window. FWIW - dan
 
I try to be prepared for as many scenarios as possible. So have setups similar to KodiakHntr, with durable scopes, with accurate tracking, on lightweight rifles. Something that works from near to far

My current go to is a T3x SL cut down to 22” and bedded in Wildcat. 3-12 LRHS in Sportsmatch rings.
 
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I went full custom for mine. Anti X action, 22” carbon barrel, magnesium chassis, alpha optics in 4-20x 50. Sits just over 9 lbs with ammo.

I shoot it on a regular basis out to 1000m off the bench, and often on tripod out to 500m. I’m ready for what ever I might run across. I’ve had instances to in the 500-600 range and was ready, but they were not shootable game.

I also play with a dedicated bench rifle, so 1000m is standard range for me with it, and go up from there. I shoot on average 50 rounds plus a week lately, so shoot more in a week than most do in a year. I think I’ve got in the 800 range since April when I put it together, and that is just that one rifle.


Trigger time is a HUGE factor as well as a range finder to shoot any kind of distance, much less hunt. The amount of guys that still use their rifle scope as binos is just insane and scary. Most will never shoot past 200m, much less have the capability to shoot further. Heck, I use my 22 to shoot further than 80% of the hunters out there.
 
Buckmastr said:
Open country, I hunt with a Leica rangefinder in my chest pocket and a bipod wearing 9-10# model 700, 2# trigger with a 4.5-14 CDS in my hands. Range from my knees, twist and go prone. Good for 500 yards which is longe range enough for me. I have myself trained to shoot prone off a bipod as much as possible. Minimizes your presence and gives you a solid rest. Practice teaches you where to get down so that you aren’t staring at the side of a hill or a bunch of grass. Like anything getting into a repeatable routine before you pull the trigger makes it a lot easier.
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Yeah, this is it for me as well. A rangefinder and an exposed elevation turret are the essential tools, establish a comprehensive DOPE chart, and practice from supported field positions, prone/sitting/kneeling over backpacks, bipods, or natural rests.

I'm comfortable with up to about 600 yards on game-sized targets after practicing trying to hole punch 1" orange dots at the same range from the same positions.

Also important to know when NOT to take a shot if you aren't 100% certain your quarry is going to bite the dust. I'm good in about 10 kph winds. Beyond that at those distances, I'm either trying closing distance or just shooting with my phone camera and waiting for a better opportunity.
 
blakeyboy said:
So that’s yer long range hunting definition. Anything beyond that you could call ELRH, the ~ The world is currently on the PRS hype train so lots of marketing and latest trend that is the way to fly for lrh etc. So sky is limit in how much or how little on the gear end you want to go. Standard sporter with a sub 1 lb scope and simple dial or sfp reticle will do the trick. The further you go from this the more you move into the fack around and find out territory. The wise will have target rigs and then hunting rigs. If can only have one then hunting. The unwise will try to take all that target gear to field and chances of meeting Murphy personally just go up and up.
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This statement above is kind of where I was hoping we could end up with this discussion.

We all know how marketing hype can affect current trends in the field. The current climate I believe is more suited to the Western States/Prairies or High Alpine/Glacial settings where these LR/ELR shots are becoming the trend.

As some mentioned above distance = time, fair enough. I guess that gives you time to twist and turn until your hearts content. I wonder how many not in those environments mentioned above actually practise old school hold-over based on the reticle though, or just take a random shot hoping for the best?
 
Often getting a good range takes longer than twisting and shooting. If the range pops up quick, it takes no longer than it would if the animal was closer.
 
Aside from the ability to cleanly kill the target animal, the form of the rifle isn't as important as how well it shoots and how well it can be shot in the conditions of the hunt. A guy with a super high speed competition rifle designed for PRS may do really well in his spandex shorts jogging around a golf course in July. But take that same rig and spend all day outside in -20C and may find that the nice light trigger is unpredictable as fingers get numb. Or the chassis freezes his hands. Or the detachable mag gets hard to insert and remove. In that situation, a well-tuned Remington Sendero might be just the ticket. The key is to shoot the rifle not just from field positions but also in field conditions. Once you start throwing on layers and dropping temps things get different in a hurry.
 
For me I ran a rem 700 in a b and c Alaskan stock with a 22" fluted number 3 contour topped with a 3-12 lrhs Bushnell. I run a Leica 1600 rangefinder. I think long range depends on many variables with the environment more than anything else. Some days I wouldn't hesitate to take a 800m shot other days I may not want to take a 200m one. As far as the modern hunting rifle I currently have one in the works and have built many similar. Being in southern Alberta having lots of opportunity at taking longer shots building a rifle setup to do so just makes sense. The winning combo in my mind is a stock such as the McMillan game scout or manners LRH in the lightest fill you can get, a number 3 or 4 contour barrel at a length that allows you to keep the bullet going near as fast as the case can push it, and a quality scope that tracks and maintains zero mounted in good rings. Chassis are good as well the MPa magnesium one is quite nice as is the MDT hnt26. I also enjoy the mdt xrs for more budget minded builds. My current build is a defiance Anti, manners LRH, Hawkins hunter bottom metal, 26" #4 8 twist chambered in 7-375 Ruger wearing a nightforce nx8 4-32 in a nightforce unimount. Another piece of lrh kit I will never be without is a tripod. I currently have a big pod rigged up to take ARCA plates, I have a bino rack on it that I use constantly and haven't touched a bipod since i started packing the tripod. It's light enough I sling or backpack my rifle and carry the tripod. When this tripod eventually dies I will probably replace it with one of the lightweight 2 vets pods.
 
X2 on Big Ugly, you sure do get a long ways from ideal conditions in hunting seasons. Could not agree more with at least 2 lb trigger although I’ve come to prefer 2.5-3 and can still hit my accuracy goals. Gear than can’t be caught a rotation out, or rubbed off zero. So much more to consider.
 
A good 3lb and a not good 3lb are two different animals :)

RobMcLeod, how do you like the "Alaskan" version of that stock compared to the regular B&C stock? Less clunky 2x4 like?
 
Robmcleod82 said:
For me I ran a rem 700 in a b and c Alaskan stock with a 22" fluted number 3 contour topped with a 3-12 lrhs Bushnell. I run a Leica 1600 rangefinder. I think long range depends on many variables with the environment more than anything else. Some days I wouldn't hesitate to take a 800m shot other days I may not want to take a 200m one. As far as the modern hunting rifle I currently have one in the works and have built many similar. Being in southern Alberta having lots of opportunity at taking longer shots building a rifle setup to do so just makes sense. The winning combo in my mind is a stock such as the McMillan game scout or manners LRH in the lightest fill you can get, a number 3 or 4 contour barrel at a length that allows you to keep the bullet going near as fast as the case can push it, and a quality scope that tracks and maintains zero mounted in good rings. Chassis are good as well the MPa magnesium one is quite nice as is the MDT hnt26. I also enjoy the mdt xrs for more budget minded builds. My current build is a defiance Anti, manners LRH, Hawkins hunter bottom metal, 26" #4 8 twist chambered in 7-375 Ruger wearing a nightforce nx8 4-32 in a nightforce unimount. Another piece of lrh kit I will never be without is a tripod. I currently have a big pod rigged up to take ARCA plates, I have a bino rack on it that I use constantly and haven't touched a bipod since i started packing the tripod. It's light enough I sling or backpack my rifle and carry the tripod. When this tripod eventually dies I will probably replace it with one of the lightweight 2 vets pods.
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What do you predict the killy factor will be on the new build?
 
Agree Joel on trigger, assuming most in lrh set up will have enough of that.

Another thing in set up is sure seems to lots relying on ballistics solvers and apps and a bunch of tech, batteries, for a tiny amount of data required to get to 600 from Mpbr. Pretty sure the more mechanical solutions less likely to leave you fubar at crunch time is the correct answer here. Leave the computers at home and ready for the next prs match in summer lol.

Also try not to get dependent on team work calling everything etc. Best be sharpest on solo set up with possible luxury of a buddy calling ranges and winds. Not the other way around.
 
True that!

What do you think is the best entry level rangefinder for what you guys would call LRH? And I know "entry level" is quite relative haha.
 
Joel said:
True that!

What do you think is the best entry level rangefinder for what you guys would call LRH? And I know "entry level" is quite relative haha.
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Not sure on entry level I run Leica and the models just under the computer .com ones. Simple one button that gives range and true horizontal is all you need. Change the battery once a year and never worry. They will have one version in handheld or geovid. In geovid currently thats 2700 HD-R or was about a year ago when I got this one. There was a similar featured handheld I was eyeballing at same time. If the 32mm geovid pro comes out with a similar more basic version that would be slick too. My data ends up on the rifles from computer used at home where it belongs lol, with only tiny bit of mental computing required for wind solutions, the mental puter is built in and very reliable so all good. ;)
 
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